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Pakistan navy deploys Chinese C-602 cruise missile

Staff Reporter

2014-04-11

10:01 (GMT+8)

A C-602 anti-ship cruise missile. (Internet photo)

Frontline units of the Pakistani navy have been equipped with C-602 anti-ship cruise missiles purchased from China, according to the Kanwa Defense Review published by Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov, a Canadian a military analyst.

Pakistan ordered about 120 C-602 anti-ship cruise missiles from China back in 2009. The first batch of the missiles, enough to equip a company, were delivered in 2011. After personnel completed training on using the missiles, the Pakistani government said that the C-602s have already been deployed to frontline naval units. The missiles were purchased to provide a countermeasure to India's BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, which has a range of 290 kilometers.

The anti-ship cruise missiles have an estimated range of 280 km with a speed of 0.8 mach. As Islamabad is discussing allowing the military to employ the civilian version of China's Beidou Navigation System for use on the battlefield, Kanwa Defense Review said that the accuracy of the C-602 can be increased gradually if a deal is made between the two countries. Pakistan is currently the only foreign operator of the C-602.